by B. R. GOWANI
In 2021, David Beasley, the UN World Food Program’s Director said
2% of Elon Musk’s wealth could assist in solving world hunger
Musk countered with aking how his $6 billion could help
World Food Programme (WFP) prepared a detailed plan in response
in Nov 2021, Musk donated Tesla stocks worth $5.7 billion to a charity
which charity it was given to, no one knows …
in February 2022, WFP made it clear that it was not the recipient
as of Jan 1, 2025, Musk’s wealth is $421.2B; Bill Gates’ worth is $160B
Dec 29, 2019. Bill Gates wrote on Gates Notes about taxes & inequality
“… It was nearly two decades ago that my dad and I started calling for an increase in the federal estate tax and for an estate tax in our home state of Washington, which has the most regressive tax system in the country. In 2010, he and I also backed a voter initiative that—had it passed—would’ve created a state income tax.”
in 1951, the tax rate was about 50%
in 2011, major corporations paid an average of 12.1% tax
Gates further says:
“Meanwhile, the wealth gap … is much greater than it was 50 years ago. A few people end up with a great deal—I’ve been disproportionately rewarded for the work I’ve done—while many others who work just as hard struggle to get by.”
“Today the U.S. government depends overwhelmingly on taxing labor—about three quarters of its revenue comes from taxes on wages and salaries. Most people get almost all of their income from salary and hourly work, which is taxed at a maximum of 37 percent. But the wealthiest generally get only a tiny percentage of their income from a salary; most of it comes from profits on investments, such as stock or real estate, taxed at 20 percent if they’re held for more than a year.”
“When I say the government needs to raise more money, some people ask why Melinda and I don’t voluntarily pay more in taxes than the law requires. The answer is that simply leaving it up to people to give more than the government asks for is not a scalable solution. People pay taxes as an obligation of law and citizenship, not out of charity. Additional voluntary giving will never raise enough money for everything the government needs to do.”
many a times, Gates talks about the rich not being taxed enough
he is right about tax not being a charity
likewise, his friend Warren Buffet thinks along the same line
We don’t mind paying taxes at Berkshire, and we are paying a 21% federal rate on the gains we’re taking in Apple. And that rate was 35% not that long ago, and it’s been 52% in the past, when I’ve been operating. And the federal government owns a part of the earnings of the business we make. They don’t own the assets, but they own a percentage of the earnings, and they can change that percentage any year. And the percentage that they’ve decreed currently is 21%.
And I would say with the present fiscal policies, I think that something has to give, and I think that higher taxes are quite likely, and if the government wants to take a greater share of your income, or mine, or Berkshire’s, they can do it. And they may decide that someday they don’t want the fiscal deficit to be this large, because that has some important consequences, and they may not want to decrease spending a lot, and they may decide they’ll take a larger percentage of what we earn and we’ll pay it. We always hope, at Berkshire, to pay substantial federal income taxes.
We think it’s appropriate that a company, a country that’s been as been as generous to our owners, it’s been the place… . I was lucky. Berkshire was lucky, was here. If we send in a check like we did last year, we sent in over $5 billion to the US federal government. And if 800 other companies had done the same thing, no other person in the United States would have had to pay a dime of federal taxes, whether income taxes, no Social Security taxes, no estate taxes, no… . It’s open down the line.
Now… That’s… I would like to… I hope things develop well enough with Berkshire that we say we’re in the 800 club and maybe even move up a few notches. It doesn’t bother me in the least to write that check. I would really hope, with all America has done for all of you, it shouldn’t bother you that we do it. And if I’m doing it at 21% this year and we’re doing it at a higher percentage later on, I don’t think you’ll actually mind the fact that we sold a little Apple this year.
Buffet and Gates could give the underpaid tax to any UN agency
their charity could make life easier for many or alleviate them from poverty
but so far, no action on that has been forthcoming from either of them …
B. R. Gowani can be reached at brgowani@hotmail.com